Gear-cutting machine.



N0. 638,563. I Patented Dec. 5, I899.

Y H. F. CUNTZQ GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 12, 1899.) (N0 Mod) 5 Sheets-Shoat l.

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Patnted De. 5, I899. H. F. CUNTZ.

GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed. Apr. 12, 1899.)

(No Model.)

5 SheetsSheet 2.

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No. 638,563. Patented Dec. 5, I899. H. F. CUNTZ.

GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

( pplinatism filed Apr. 12, 1899.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHoTD-LITHO" WASHINGTON. D, C.

H. F. 'CUNTZ.

GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 12, 1899.)

No. 638,563. Patented Dec. 5, I899.

(No Model.)

5' SheatsSheet 4.

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No. 638,563. Patented Dec. 5, I899.

v H. F. CUNTZ.

GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

.(Application filed. Apr. 12, 1899.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

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NrrnD V STATES PATENT 'CrrrcE.

HERMANN F. CUNTZ, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICANBICYCLE COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEWV JERSEY.

GEAR-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,563, dated December5, 1899.

Application filed April 12, 1899. Serial No. 712,693. (No model.)

ting Machines, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art canmake and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of gearcutting machines in which thecutter moves during the operation of cutting; and the obj ect of myinvention is to provide a machine of this class in which the cuttershall correspond with the engaging portion of the tooth of a gearadapted to mesh with the gear being cut and which said cutter shall havea movement during the cutting operation similar to that of the tooth ofa gear adapted to mesh with the gear being formed in the machine.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is aview in side elevation of amachine embodying my invention with parts cut away to show construction.Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine with parts out in horizontal sectionin the plane of the cutter-carrying shaft. Fig. 3 is a detail front viewshowing the relative position of the cutters and the blank supported onthe carrier. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the workdifting mechanism.Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of a modified form of machine withparts out in section to show construction, the machine shown in thisview Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the relative position of the cutterand blank in this latter form of machine. Fig. 7 is a top view, partlyin horizontal section, of this latter form of machine. Fig. 8 is adetail front view showing the relative position of the cutter and blankin this form of machine. Fig. 9 is a detail front view of the indexingdevice, and Fig. 10 is a detail view showing the work-lifting mechanismof this last form of machine. Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are detail views, inhorizontal section, front elevation, and side elevation respectively,illustrating the connection between the indexing devices and thework-shaft shown in Fig. 5.

In the accompanying drawings the letter A denotes a standard, in theupper part of which is supported in suitable bearingsa maindriving-shaft B and above this shaft a cutter-carrier shaft C, to whichrotary movement is imparted by means of a gearb and pinion c, the latterhaving a wide face to permit longitu-- dinal movement of the shaft Cwithout disengagement of said gear and pinion. The shaft 0 is supportedin a sleeve C, mounted in bearings a a, and carries a ring 0', loosely.the teeth or pins of a gear adapted to mesh with the gear being cut,the revolving movementof the cutters in the cutting operation alsocorresponding to the movement of the teeth of a gear adapted to meshwith said gear being cut. The edge of each cutter is shaped incross-section to correspond with the engaging portion of the tooth orpin of the mating gear, and each cutter is mounted to rotate in abearing-block secured to the face of the carrier C In the constructionshown the shaft of each cutter has a worm-gear C secured thereto andwhich is engaged by a worm on a short shaft C". This shaft is mounted inbearings in a block 0 and carries a pinion c, which meshes with a pinionC secured to the shaft C and held in position by a nut c on the end ofthe shaft. This construction of parts provides for the necessaryrotation of the cutters for the purpose of cutting and at the same timefor a revolution of the cutters about the axis of the shaft C for thepurpose of bringing the cutters into proper position with regard to theblank being cut. This latter movement of a cutter resembles the movementof a tooth of a gear adapted to mesh with the gear being cut. Thisconstruction also provides for a reciprocating movement of the cutterswith respect to the work.

A worm-gear O is driven through a suitable train of driving-gears, whichincludes in the construction shown bevelgears b 6 sp urgears 19 b and aworm b on a shaft 19 The blank to be out, whether flanged, asrepresented in the drawings, or not, is supported in proper positionwith reference to the cutting mechanism and has a peripheral speedproportioned to the speed of revolution of the cutters about the axis ofthe carrier and is capable of being raised and lowered to move it intoand out of operative relation with the cutters. As shown in thedrawings, the blank D is clamped to a support on a workcarrier E. Thelatter is secured to a shaft E, supported, preferably, in a properposition in suitable bearings a, the shaft having at its lower end aroller 6, which rests upon the surface of a cam E which is driven atproper speed through suitable gearing,(indicated mainly in dottedoutline in Fig. 1 of the drawings,) motion being imparted to the trainfrom the main shaft B. The shaft E has a step-bearing upon the frame 6which carries the roller 6, the frame being held from rotation by guides6 which enter grooves in opposite sides of the frame 6 A worm-gear E islocated between two adjacent bearings a and is connected to the shaft Eby a key and slot, so as to provide for the required rotation of theshaft E and at the same time permit it to have therequired lengthwisemovement. This wormgear E is driven by the worm-shaft E and a suitabletrain of spur'gears e and the bevelgears 11 b from the main shaft B.

The shaft B is driven, as by means of a belt connected to a pulley onthe outer end of the shaft, and in operation the parts are so timed thatthe blank D is gradually moved upward into the path of cutting movementof a cutter G at the same time that said cutter is reciprocated acrossthe edge of the blank and is slowly fed in its path of revolution aboutthe axis of the cutter-carrier shaft. The rotary feed of the carrierbeing relatively slow, each reciprocation of the cutter causes theactive cutting edge to generate substantially a part surface of acylinder, and consequently cut away the material of the blank to leave atooth which would engage with the pin of a gear with which it isintended. These several movements are consequently so related as to timeand speed that the teeth out in the edge of the blank will be soconstructed as to properly engage with a pin on a gear which correspondsto and mates properly with the teeth of the gear when cut.

It is obvious that the details of construction and arrangement of theseveral parts may be varied from what is shown in Figs. 1 to 4 of thedrawings, particularly with respect to the number and relativearrangement of the cutters and the means for supporting and actuatingthe same. One such modified form of my invention is shown in Figs. 5 to10 of the drawings. This latter form of machine has a single cutter inplace of a series of cutters, and the successive teeth are cut duringthe swinging or oscillating movement of this single cutter, which movesback and forth in a limited path instead of in a path of continuousrevolution about the cutter-carrier shaft. The work in this modifiedform of machine has a swinging movement about its own axis during asingle cutting movement of the cutter which corresponds and is timedwith the movement of the cutter, and the blank is moved forward step bystep by the indexing mechanism required in this form after thecompletion of each cut.

In all forms of these machines where space permits the reciprocatingmovement of the cutter-carrier may be reduced and in extreme casesentirely eliminated, as when the cutter= disk is extremely large inproportion to the thickness of the flange of the gear being cut.

Referring to Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, of the drawings, the standard Aas shown, supports the driving mechanism and operative parts, the mainshaft B and the cutter-car-- rier shaft C having the same relativearrangement as in the form of machine herein before described. The shaft(l is driven by a gear b meshing with the pinion e and it is mounted ina sleeve c which has secured to its forward end a cutter-carrying arm 0.On the outer end of this arm the rotating milling-cutter C is pivoted ina block or bracket projection and is driven through the medium of aworm-gear O worm e shaft 0 pinion 0 and gear 0 on the end of the shaft Cwhich would result from giving to the sleeve which supports thecutter-arm a continuous rotary movement, means are provided forimparting to the sleeve and the milling-cutter on it an oscillatorymovement through a limited are. For this purpose a short sleeve 0 iskeyed upon the sleeve C and is connected at one side by a link or pitman0 to a crank-pin b on the face of a bevel-gear 17 secured to the innerend of the shaft B The blank D is supported by substantially the samemeans as described in connection with the machine previously described,the work-carrier E being secured to the shaft E arranged at an anglewith the cuttercarrier shaft and supported in bearings a and at itslower end on the cam E, the ro tary movement of which imparts alongitudinal movement to the shaft. The rotary movement of the cam isimparted by the wormgeFtlE ,WOI'lDSl1tfl]E bevel-gears 64X, shaft E, andchain 6, which connects sprocketgears respectively fast to the shaft Eand the main driving-shaft B In order that the work-carrier E andcutter-carrier 0 may have timely reciprocating movement, a hub E locatedbetween bearings o, and connected with the shaft E as hereinafterdescribed, is connect-ed at one side by a link or pitman e with acrank-pin e on the face of a bevel-gear E in mesh with the bevel-gear Inorder to prevent the loss of time.

I). These bevel-gears are so proportioned that the peripheral speed ofthe blank and the cutter in its revolution shall be the same. In thisform of machine I prefer to have the slow-feed motion effected bythe camin raising the blank to cause the depth at which the cutter shall engagethe blank during the successive dependent oscillations of the carrierand blank to be gradually increased. In order to shift the work for anew cut, an ordinary indexing mechanism (indicated at F) may beconnected with the work-shaft E' the hub E being disconnected from theshaft in any suitable manner during the operation of the indexingmechanism. As shown in Figs. 5, 9, 11, 12, and 13, the indexing-arm F,having a pin f, is secured to a shaft F supported in a suitable bearing.An indexing-disk F is mounted loosely on the shaft between the arm andthe bearing and is provided with two series of holes f and f the holes fbeing adapted for engagement by the pin f and the holesf for engagementby a pin f, mounted on the bearing. A gear F on the shaft F engages agear F on a sleeve E, which is supported in the lower bearing a and issplined to the shaft E so that the latter can move longitudinallythrough the sleeve, while rotating with it. The hub E is split and isclamped upon the sleeve F by a clamp 6 so that the sleeve is oscillatedwith the hub or released therefrom, as circumstances may require. In theoperation of indexing, the machine having been stopped, the disk F isfirst set by means of pin f, the clamp 6 is opened to release the sleeveF and the indexing-armF is moved from one hole f to the next, therebythrough the gears F F rotating the sleeve, Work-shaft, work-carrier, andgear-blank the required distance for the foundation of a new tooth. Thehub E is then clamped again, the disk F released by with drawing the pinf, and the machine set in motion. The mode of operation of this form ofmachine will be readily understood from the foregoing description of itsconstruction with out further explanation herein, the relation of thesingle cutter to the gear-blank being clearly shown in Fig. 6, in whichis also indicated the coincidence of the edge of the cutter with theengaging surface of the pin of the mating gear and the relation of theseveral pins of the mating gear to the gear being cut.

Various other modifications of construction and arrangement will readilysuggest themselves-in view of whatis disclosed herein, and it will beevident that the invention is not to be limited to the preciseconstruction and arrangements shown herein.

I claim as my invention- 1. A gear-cutting machine comprising aplurality of disk-like, rotating milling-cutters, a carrier upon whichthe cutters are mounted to move in the arc of a circle, mechanism forrotating said cutters upon their own axes and means for imparting tothem parallel rectilinear reciprocation, and mechanism for rotating saidcarrier about an axis intersecting the axis of a work-carrier, thework-carrier, and means for giving to said work-carrier a movementcorresponding with the movement of the cutter-carrier, substantially asshown and described.

2. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a shaft, a gear on saidshaft, a carrier mounted concentrically with said shaft,a disk-' likemilling-cutter mounted in bearings on said carrier with its axistransverse to the axis of the carrier, gearing for rotating said outterfrom the gear on the shaft, means for rotating said shaft, and means forimparting a rotary movement to said carrier, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a shaft, a gear on saidshaft, a carrier mounted concentrically with said shaft, a disklikemilling-cutter with an edge corresponding to a section of the operativesurface of a tooth of a gear which will mesh with the gear to be out,said cutter being mounted in bearings on said carrier and with its axistransverse to the axis of the carrier, gearing for rotating said cutterfrom the gear on the shaft, means for rotating said shaft, and means forimparting a rotary movement to said carrier, substantially as shown anddescribed.

4. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a shaft, a carriermounted concentric ally with said shaft, a cutter mounted upon saidcarrier, gearing between said shaft and cutter to rotate thelatter,means to rotate said shaft, means to impart rotary movement to saidcarrier, and means for imparting a rectilinear reciprocation to saidshaft and carrier together in the direction of their axis and at agreater speed than that of the revolution of said cutter about the axisof the carrier.

5. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a shaft, a sleeve uponsaid shaft, a carrier mounted upon said sleeve, a cutter mounted uponsaid carrier, gearing between said shaft and cutter to rotate thelatter, a drivinggear for said sleeve having a key-and-slot engagementtherewith, means for rotating said shaft, and means for imparting ato-and-fro movement to said shaft and sleeve in the direction of theiraxis, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a shaft, a sleeve uponsaid shaft, a carrier secured to said sleeve, a cutter mounted upon saidcarrier, gearing between said shaft and cutter to rotate the latter, acam and a cam-lever engaging said sleeve and shaft to move the samelongitudinally, means for rotating said sleeve, and independent meansfor rotating said shaft, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a rotating cutter, acarrier upon which said cutter is mounted to move bodily in the arc of acircle about the axis of the carrier, a work-carrier, means for givingto said work carrier a rotary movement corresponding with the movementof the cutter-carrier,and means for moving said Work-carrier in thedirection of its axis to bring the work into operative relation with thecutter, substantially as shown and described.

8. In agear-cutting machine, the combination of a rotating cutter, acarrier upon which said cutter is mounted to move bodily in the arc of acircle about the axis of the carrier, a work-carrier, a shaft to whichsaid Work-carrieris secured, acam in operative engagement with saidshaft to impart movement in the direction of its axis, and means forgiving to the Work-carrier a rotary movement corresponding with themovement of the cuttercarrier, substantially as shown and described.

9. In a gear-cutting machine, the combination of a rotating cutter, acarrier upon which said cutter is mounted to move bodily in the arc of acircle about the axis of the carrier, at Work-carrier, alongitudinally-movable shaft to which saidv carrier is secured, meansfor giving to the Work-carrier a rotary movement corresponding with themovement of the cutter-carrier, and a cam in operative engagement withsaid shaft to move the same longitudinally and arranged to retain ablank in position to receive a number of operations of a cutter,substantially as shown and described.

HERMANN F. CUNTZ. Witnesses:

FELTON PARKER, MAUD L. CLARK.

